Polk Audio Command Bar Home Theater Sound Bar System with Amazon Alexa Built-In

2022-01-09T19:00:00

Sometimes Alexa works but mostly she doesn't. Sometimes it is impossible to get sound from it. Need to reset it constantly. When it works it does sound good.

Hatemyjob

Originally posted at

2022-01-09T19:00:00

The command bar has been working fine for 2 years then all the sudden the HDMI ARC port stopped working. Customer support was no help.

Bob48

Originally posted at

2021-12-24T19:00:00

Look! Their are more expensive bar/bass combinations. Money set aside; this is what you want if you can get your hands on one. It will body rock your whole house and your neighbors will hear you too. I keep my sound levels respectful with me being in a duplex. But - believe me, I have the superior sounds. We had a sound off once. I had it (not even) half volume but the bass at max. It was a slaughter fest. buy it! You won?t regret it.

thehomieal

Originally posted at

2021-12-17T19:00:00

I bought a year or so ago and remote just stopped working don?t know why but bar is now stuck on demo mode don?t know what to do otherwise I love the speaker and sound

RJohnson

Originally posted at

2021-10-20T20:00:00

I?ve had this for 2 years and Alexa had only worked for a few months. If you pause the tv or leave it on menu you have to restart the whole tv for sound. Also randomly makes the most god awful sound I?ve ever heard. Waste of money.

Mrtaylor

Originally posted at

2021-08-18T20:00:00

Bought this as an open box for half price, and everything has worked since day 1. However, it did not come with a remote, I figured I had enough remotes and the phone app should work the same. NOT SO. The phone App is useless. Cant get it to change anything. It helps you set up the thing, AFTER a few tries (dont give up) then it finally connected. Works well now, except for that I cant change any settings. But it sounds good.

Swedesurfer

Originally posted at

2021-08-06T20:00:00

Allow of popping noises. Had to disconnect the subwoofer.

Yolanda

Originally posted at

2021-05-29T20:00:00

I have had this for about 2 years (I'm guessing) but I moved to a new apartment and the polk connect app WILL NOT setup the Alexa function. On my router I tried unified 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Nogo. Separated the networks so each one you had to connect to manually. So my 5ghz was called wap5, tried that, wouldn't connect. Then tried the 2ghz with the name wap2, still will not connect. The app just spins like it is trying to connect and never does, or it will say, and I am paraphrasing, network not setup correctly or password is wrong. I've tried rebooting everything, I tried resetting my speaker to default settings. I even created a 2 guest networks that are separated and the same errors occur. Lastly, my remote just stopped working at all. I have tried sets of new batteries that are known good and the remote is now just a piece of trash. So basically this speaker is pretty worthless for me now and I feel like I've wasted 350 dollars on a speaker that I was in love with, at first. I would HIGHLY suggest not buying this, it will only cause you heartache. Sad, because I always thought of Polk as a good quality speaker system.

Ellis_in_Nashville

Originally posted at

2021-04-20T20:00:00

This sound bar has had issues from day one. Never has worked right. You can not change the Alexa name to call it by Echo or any other name. Constantly loses connection to the internet. The microphone will turn on and never shut off some times. The app is horrible with no options to change. Not a good product and should be discontinued.

Nothappynick

Originally posted at

2021-04-09T20:00:00

I got this product a while ago and the subwoofer never synced up to the soundbar. It says connection failed. I cannot figure out the reason. Please help.

Rudy3300

Originally posted at

2021-03-15T20:00:00

ever since I bought this it hasn't worked the way it should have Alexa never worked properly kept shutting down and disconnecting from wifi and now today just quit working

bruce b.

Originally posted at

2021-03-10T19:00:00

I had no issues with the sound quality of the product. It met my expectations and it was relatively easy to set up. The over-encompassing issue happened about a year-and-a-half after purchase. Based on online forums, it appears there was a firmware update to the product which essentially rendered the HDMI inputs useless and nonfunctional. My TV and gaming console did not recognize the sound bar even though they were directly connected to the product (I even used five different HDMI cords as I initially thought I had faulty cables). Since (ALL) the HDMI ports no longer work, it has now become an oversized bluetooth speaker. I reached out to product support to see if they could help troubleshoot the problem, but had no luck there (outside of asking me to do a factory reset on the bar, I received no other guidance or information about what may have caused the malfunction). I have since replaced the sound bar with one from a different brand as I have been totally put off by this product and the experience.

VILLAN

Originally posted at

2021-01-13T19:00:00

Purchased this for my condo, the sound is good, the system is nice looking aesthetically and the Alexa device makes it very convenient to verbal commands to the speaker without any pair issues, etc.. just tell it to play what you want and you're done! I control all my smart plugs as well with it. I think the negative reviews that are from people who only wanted to pay $300 but were expecting a $3,000 dollar sound experience. lol

Midtowner

Originally posted at

2021-01-07T19:00:00

The sound is terrific. The Alexa features are limited. Over time even some of those stopped working. Now it doesn’t recognize HDMI inputs. It’s a total guessing game how to find an input, sync via CRC, etc. and that’s gotten worse in just a couple of years. Buyer’s remorse is real.

Eugene

Originally posted at

2021-01-07T19:00:00

Alexa rarely works, randomly shuts off, Ive had it for about 2 years, had polk products in the past. Now the bar sits in my garage occasionally used for bluetooth audio.

Atbarrow

Originally posted at

2021-01-04T19:00:00

I’ve had this sound bar for about 2 years now and it’s always had this problem with dropping sound. Alexa freezes and then try to reset but f try that doesn’t even work. My WiFi signal is strong enough but this sound bar is not.

J_Rod407

Originally posted at

2020-12-31T19:00:00

Yeh, it sounds great and has a nice nighttime option that cuts the bass, buuuut it does not connect to the internet and alexa does not work. This is probably a fixable issue through firmware, yet Polk is okay with letting it be and frustrating people who already paid a fair amount for this thing. I literally haven’t owned a piece of equipment in my life that doesn’t work like this thing.

Polk H.

Originally posted at

2020-12-23T19:00:00

Not happy I got this. Alexa hardly ever works because the wifi connection drops all the time, and then you have to go through a clumsy, lengthy process to reconnect it. Going to get another soundbar that works well.

gjflanker

Originally posted at

2020-12-18T19:00:00

I've had this for about 8 months now and the sound is good but the alexa feature sucks. Constantly drops out of alexa or when you call to her the light just goes round and round but never responds. Can't seem to support the call feature to talk to somone on speaker which is weird since it has the microphone to do so. Also since our fire stick has been plugged into it, the voice commands for yhe fire stick don't seem to work anymore. Keeps telling me that feature is not aupported or command is not recognized even for basics like resume movie or pause. Might be firmware issues but windering if they are ever going to get around to doing so since a couple people seem to have been waiting years.

shan1081

Originally posted at

2020-12-07T19:00:00

I've had this 2 years now, since Christmas '18, and I can confirm that as reported by others the Alexa is incredibly glitchy. She crashes/frezzes about once per week, which requires rebooting the sounder, it's really annoying. Also she doesn't work well at all with the Audible app, and lacks many of the features of a normal Alexa, most notably calling other Alexa's. For a long time I was hoping Polk would roll out a firmware update to add messaging and fix the reliability but it's been 2 years now, so it seems at this point they aren't really interested in making this right. Really Polk, did anyone even test this this before pushing it out? And after realizing how unreliable it was you couldn't even be bothered to put out a firmware update, the thing is connected to the internet for god sakes, it wouldn't be that difficult.

URPaul

Originally posted at

2020-08-26T20:00:00

I own this sound bar for a year and a half, it never worked reliably so now I use it to hold my blue prints from rolling up, A 200 dollar paper weight. Horrible app. The last Polk product that I will buy.

Nomore P.

Originally posted at

2020-08-11T20:00:00

If this was just a basic soundbar i would of given 5 stars but I paid more money than a basic because I wanted the alexa and the use of the video pass through. Both features are horrible. I find myself calling the polk auido help line ever other week so the sound bar can be reset because there is always a problem with the alexa. Also, the video pass through dosnt regulate sound. Meaning on certain channels the sound will be so low while the program is on that i have to turn it up to max, tgen on commercials I have to rush to turn it down so I don't blow my eardrums. Do yourself a favor a but a diffrent soundbar. I do not reccomend.

jhen23

Originally posted at

2020-03-01T19:00:00

My polk command bar is great when it actually works, but will automatically disconnect and you have to reprogram it and only sometimes does that work

No p.

Originally posted at

2020-02-22T19:00:00

Love the sound quality of this bar, crisp voice with surprisingly deep base. Unfortunately the outrageously glitchy Alexa feature ruins it. We have one Echo and two Echo Dots so I am very familiar with the Alexa ecosystem and this sound bar doesn’t stack up at all. We have monthly and sometimes weekly connection problems and have to reconnect our device to our Amazon account, this problem has persisted despite going through two TVs, two routers, and even two different ISPs. The microphone is also much less responsive than our other Alexa devices. It will often cut the sound to whatever we are watching and say something like “sorry I didn’t catch that” even though no one in the room was talking, let alone saying the wake word. Again LOVE the sound but will be replacing this sound bar because the Alexa feature not only doesn’t work but is down right obnoxious.

Scottyking

Originally posted at

2020-02-10T19:00:00

This soundbar and subwoofer combo is a perfect fit for a large home theatre room. The sound easily fills the room, and bass levels are excellent for this price point. I am NOT a pretentious audiophile; but this delivers amazing sound for 99 percent of the population The different modes sports/movie/music are also complimentary to what you are watching. Seamlessly links with all your Alexa enabled products and works like an Echo when needed. Aesthetically it is not the best looking product out there, but it is an amazing value. It blows other "sexier" soundbars out of the water at a fraction of the cost. Spend the extra $300 you save with this unit on your tv!

David B.

Originally posted at

2020-01-20T19:00:00

I have had this sound bar for about a year and I use it everyday. Configuration: very good - I like the flexibilty with 2 HDMI inputs and one optical input. It is possible to listen to the optical/network/bluetooth input while watching TV via either of the HDMI inputs. Works with CEC. Also wakes automatically when it senses optical input is active. Alexa compatibility: not great - It works with Alexa multiroom groups and Spotify, BUT it does NOT work as part of an Alexa multiroom group when listening to Spotify, which is a big disappointment. It therefore is not as compatible with the Alexa ecosystem as the other Amazon Echo devices. Also, it would be nice if the wake word could be changed - it can only be "Alexa" Stability: not great - it stops responding to voice/remote control about once a month and needs rebooting. Sound: good - there are better sounding bars, but maybe not in this price range...

joepar

Originally posted at

2019-12-28T19:00:00

Really wanted to like this, unfortunately I'm looking for a new one. Constantly goes quiet every day for a couple of seconds during movies, Alexa never stays connected. You have to pretty much turn it all the way up for good sound.

Bcushify

Originally posted at

2019-11-12T19:00:00

I like the Alexa integration. Seems to be working fine after only a day. The quirk is that I connected it to my Toshiba Fire TV via the HDMI (ARC port and when I turn on the TV, I have to press the TV button on the command bar remote in order to establish the connection to the TV every time. While this isn't really a huge issue, it is kind of inconvenient. I would like to just power up the TV and go but the command bar needs that little kick to connect. Maybe a firmware update in the future will address this. As far as Alexa and adding it as a part of my speaker groups, no problems yet. Seems to work fine. I am able to use the Alexa in the command bar to control my lights and other devices (the aforementioned Fire TV) with it and have had no issues. The audio quality is great for a sound bar and the sub doesn't over power you with too much rumble. Personal preference there.

Ukuleleking

Originally posted at

2019-11-08T19:00:00

Keeps disconnecting from WiFi every few days forcing a complete reset which is a tedious procedure. I love Polk products, but not this one, they must have been bought out and is now just a shell of a company with just the name Polk putting out inferior products. Such a shame.

Afganblues

Originally posted at

2019-08-25T20:00:00

Even though it looks like they plopped a dot in the sound bar, not all features are there. If you love the dot/echo's, there will be something that this won't do, it'll just make you mad when you find it. Right Now, I have owned mine for 8 months and it has stopped working. When I try to switch to HMDI 2, it says Fire TV can't do that. It has been working great, sounds good, now just disappointed it won't work... :(

scottf624

Originally posted at